SAIC delivers Stryker trainers to Army

Science Applications International Corp. has delivered the last of nine Stryker simulators to the Army under a contract awarded three years ago.

The final Stryker Variant of the Common Driver Trainer was delivered to Fort Benning, Ga., where it will be used to instruct soldiers in an immersive 180-degree visual display system and high-fidelity driver's cab. The system provides a realistic environment for Stryker training.

Other trainers have been delivered to Fort Knox, Ky.; Fort Wainwright, Alaska; Fort Lewis, Wash.; Fort Leonard Wood; Mo.; and Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. The Army has ordered five additional trainers.

The work may be worth $8.7 million if all options are exercised, the Army said when it announced the deal.

The Stryker Variant is a flexible, full-motion virtual simulator based on the Common Driver Trainer architecture. The Common Driver Trainer architecture allows driver cabs to be interchanged while using a common motion base, visual display, After Action Review station and instructor-operator station.

Future vehicle cabs may include tanks, tactical wheeled vehicles or engineering equipment.

"The successful development of the Common Driver Trainer and the initial variant for Stryker has validated the CDT concept," said Maj. Dan Gamel, CDT project director for the U.S. Army Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation. "This will enable production-only efforts like this order for additional Stryker Trainers and lay the foundation for straightforward extension of the CDT to simulate other vehicles in the future."

SAIC of San Diego ranks No. 5 on Washington Technology's 2007 Top 100 list of the largest federal government prime contractors.